The forest on Roswaal's border was already beyond recognition.
Greed's attacks were like a natural disaster; every wave of her hand, every step she took, caused the earth to crack and trees to shatter. The entire forest wailed under her wrath, the ground torn into a spiderweb of fissures, with charred earth and broken wood scattering everywhere.
If not for the Flame Sword's intense flames forming a blazing barrier around Subaru, she would have long ago been torn apart by the battle's aftermath.
But the Flame Sword wouldn't let Subaru die.
No, to be precise, Carlisle wouldn't let Subaru die.
Every swing of Carlisle's sword was accompanied by a whistling shriek, the scorching flames coiling around the blade, deflecting Regulus's attacks again and again.
With the blazing flames protecting Subaru, Carlisle could fight without reservation. As long as the Flame Sword continued to burn, Subaru would not be affected by Greed's authority. And he had to find a way to defeat this monster within this brief advantage!
"Boom!!!"
Regulus, for the umpteenth time, crawled out of a human-shaped crater. Her pure white dress remained spotless, but her expression was already twisted beyond human recognition.
"I say! When are you bastard going to die already!?"
She suddenly grabbed a handful of dust.
"Even if you keep hitting me, I won't get hurt! How long are you going to treat me like an idiot?!"
She fiercely hurled the dust in her hand towards Carlisle!
"Whoosh!"
The dust, frozen by "Time Stop," transformed into countless tiny bullets, each capable of piercing steel and ignoring all physical defenses, shooting towards Carlisle!
"Clang!"
The Flame Sword's flames suddenly surged, crimson waves of fire spreading out like a barrier. The deadly dust particles, upon contact with the flames, seemed to hit an invisible wall, bouncing off, dissipating, and ultimately only blasting countless deep pits in the surrounding ground.
"Tsk!"
Regulus gritted her teeth, watching her attack be "rejected" again, trembling with rage.
"You can't win! How much longer are you going to keep using that damn sword to infringe upon my rights?!"
Her voice grew increasingly shrill, with a hint of hysterical sobbing.
"Didn't your education tell you that wasting other people's time is shameful?! I'm very busy! I have so many important things and rights to uphold! And how dare a low-level creature like you make me play this boring game with you here...!"
However, she hadn't finished speaking
"Bang!!!"
Carlisle's figure approached like lightning, the hilt of the Flame Sword smashing hard into her abdomen. The terrifying impact sent her flying backward again, plowing a trench dozens of meters long in the ground, finally embedding her fiercely into the distant rock wall!
"Waaah!"
Regulus's scream was drowned out by the collapsing rubble.
Subaru stood at the edge of the battlefield, her gaze fixed on the center of the clash between Carlisle and Regulus, her mind racing, trying to find a glimmer of hope in this seemingly unsolvable battle.
This can't go on... The current situation was ridiculously absurd.
Carlisle, wielding the Flame Sword, used its blazing holy flames to "reject" Regulus's earth-shattering attacks again and again. Greed's authority, before this otherworldly sword, seemed to crash against an invisible dam; no matter how it raged, it couldn't truly touch Carlisle.
But similarly, the Flame Sword couldn't truly harm Regulus.
Every slash could send her flying, every thrust could make her tumble in disarray, but when she crawled out of the ruins, her pure white dress didn't even have a scratch.
It was like punching an invincible punching bag... This battle had already devolved into a ridiculous tug-of-war.
Carlisle couldn't defeat Regulus.
Regulus also couldn't breach the Flame Sword's defense.
Both sides were at a stalemate, while the entire forest wailed and collapsed in their clash... Talk it over?
The thought flashed through Subaru's mind.
Since neither could overcome the other, instead of continuing this meaningless attrition, why not temporarily retreat and buy time to find a true solution?
Then, the white-haired woman, who had just been knocked back by a sweeping blow from Carlisle, was staggering to regain her balance. Her golden eyes narrowed with fury, but her mouth twisted into a grotesque arc, her gaze fixed... on Subaru.
There was no trace of rationality in those eyes, only pure, boiling killing intent... Damn it, this guy had no intention of stopping.
Subaru felt a pang of regret.
If only she had known, she shouldn't have provoked her just now... All that talk of "privately betrothed," and "losing miserably"... Now she had completely pissed her off.
Regulus had clearly put Subaru on her kill list, and her priority might even be higher than Carlisle's.
Even if we wanted to retreat now, she wouldn't agree... "I say!"
Regulus, who had stood up again, suddenly flung her arm, and the solidified power of time crushed the surrounding rubble into dust.
"You guys wouldn't think... that this could just be over, would you?!"
Her golden eyes gleamed with madness, staring intently at Subaru, a pathological smile spreading across her lips.
"First a sneak attack! Then interrupting me! Then burying me in the dirt! And finally daring to defile my sacred right to marriage with such vulgar words?!"
"Despicable bugs like you... even if I kill you a thousand, ten thousand times, it won't compensate for the infringement on my rights"
Suddenly, the battlefield fell into an eerie silence.
Regulus's open lips froze in mid-air, her unspoken malicious curse abruptly cut off. As if sensing something, she slowly turned towards a shadow at the edge of the battlefield. Carlisle, who had been poised to strike, also suddenly stopped, the flames on his blade flickering uneasily, his gaze, like Regulus's, simultaneously directed towards the same spot.
Subaru followed their gazes
In an instant, all the blood in her body seemed to freeze.
Sure enough... had she drawn her out after all?
Her throat tightened, even breathing became difficult. The figure's appearance was without warning, like a static painting suddenly having its final stroke added. The surrounding air seemed to grow viscous with her arrival.
It was a petite girl, with snow-white long hair like silk woven from moonlight, gently fluttering on the windless battlefield, the blue hair ornaments adorning her hair shimmering with an eerie light.
Her skin was pale, almost transparent, yet it gave off an inhuman sense of perfection; it wasn't the pallor of a living person, but more like a meticulously carved work of art. Her delicate face was breathtakingly beautiful, yet terrifyingly empty.
It was her... the Witch of Vainglory-Pandora.
"I've been waiting for you, sword from beyond the world."
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.